


Abnormal

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Established Relationship, Futurefic, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-09
Updated: 2006-03-09
Packaged: 2017-11-01 09:23:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/354920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kenny has some growing pains, and wonders why his family just can't be normal.   Another in the 'Alternate Universe' series of ficlets detailing the adventures of the Kent-Luthor family.  Takes place immediately before 'Overheard'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Abnormal

## Abnormal

by Magdelena

<http://members.cox.net/magdelena1969>

* * *

_Summary_ : CK/LL SLASH! COMPLETE!! Kenny has some growing pains, and wonders why his family just can't be normal. Another in the 'Alternate Universe' series of ficlets detailing the adventures of the Kent-Luthor children. Takes place immediately before 'Overheard'. 

_Disclaimer_ : I do not own any of the characters herein (only the plot). The characters of Clark Kent, Superman and Lex Luthor are the property of their creators and DC Comics. Smallville is owned by Gough/Millar Inc and the WB Network TV. I am publishing my fanfiction writings only for my own selfish desire to be a part of their world and receive nothing in return. 

_Author's Note_ : Spoilers all the way through Season Four, but selective use of Smallville and DC Comics canon. So pretty much, yeah, it's AU. Thanks to Sev1970 for betaing for me. 

* * *

"I fucking HATE you, and this fucked-up family." 

"What the hell is going on in here?" Clark inquired hotly, his expression thunderous as he walked into Lex's home office. 

"Shut up, Clark," Lex growled, his glare never wavering from the staring match that he and their youngest son were currently engaged in. "This is between Kenny and me." 

"I'm not going to stand here and allow him talk to you that way," Clark bellowed. 

"Then leave," Lex bit out icily. "I'm not going to have Kenny growing up thinking he has to stifle all this in. If he needs to say it, then he needs to say it." 

Clark was still grumbling, but obviously had deferred to Lex's decision in the matter. "He can do it while still respecting his father." 

"Clark, I love you, and I know you mean well, but let me handle this," Lex begged, his voice still holding a steely edge. 

"All right, but I'm staying," Clark answered petulantly. "He's too out of control right now." 

"Hello, still in the room," Kenny responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes unconsciously and thus missing the conspiratorial glance his fathers shared. "God, and you wonder why I was trying to get high. Not like my metabolism would even allow it," he griped. 

"You were WHAT?" Clark yelled, his attention now focused completely on their son again. 

"Both of you, SHUT... UP!" Lex roared. "Clark, Kenny is NOT out of control. I asked him to be honest with me about his feelings, and he is. His temperament is all Luthor, unlike our other two, and I know exactly what it feels like to sometimes just need to vent your feelings. I'm not going to make him repress that. And yes, I found him here smoking pot with those reprobates he's been hanging out with lately." Lex turned his full attention back to their youngest son. "And YOU, young man... if you need to hate me, that's fine, but why don't you explain what you meant by that last comment about our family," he commanded icily. 

Kenny's expression crumpled in the face of both of his fathers' ire. "I'm pissed off that you kicked out my friends like that, but I don't hate you." 

"And you think you have a right to be pissed? We both give you a lot of slack, Kenny. But I'm not going tolerate you messing around with drugs. I don't care if your Kryptonian metabolism won't allow you to get high. That whole scene is a nasty business, and I don't want you around it," Lex lectured. "I'm less interested in how you feel about me though, and more interested in what you said about the family," he prodded, guessing instinctively that this was the crux of Kenny's current issues. "Do you really feel that way?" 

Kenny shrugged, still refusing to meet Lex's eyes. "Sometimes. I just wish we were normal," he whined. When he raised his eyes, they were shining with tears. "Do you know how hard it is for me at school? Kendall and Conner had each other growing up. If any of their friends got stupid on them about having two fathers, all they had to do was hang out together. I don't have anyone like that." 

"So you'd rather be in one of the more traditional families like your friends have?" Lex inquired, moving to perch next to Kenny on the edge of his desk. 

"Most definitely." 

"Hmmm, so like maybe Aunt Chloe and Uncle Wally?" Lex inquired innocently. 

"Um, not exactly normal, Lex," Clark commented wryly, unable to prevent the small smile that formed as he looked at Lex. "Remember, he's got powers too, and he stays at home with the kids while Chloe works. Nobody in their daily life knows about his superhero gig, so the kids have to endure people talking about their bum of a father. How about Aunt Barbara and Uncle Bruce?" 

"Clark, they're still superheroes, and they don't exactly count as normal either. Their son is affected by our cover story regarding Kendall just as much as we are. Barbara's constantly under criticism for willingly 'giving up' Kendall to us. Oh, oh, I've got it. Two normal people," Lex said triumphantly. "Aunt Lana and Uncle Pete." 

"Um, not really, Lex. From my understanding, Becca and Trey have had to deal with slurs from their classmates about their mixed racial heritage." 

Lex shrugged, winking at Clark when he noticed Kenny's lips threatening to twitch upward into a smile. "Maybe, he means more like the families of the group of hooligans I just kicked out of here. Like Tommy Swift, whose mother is so strung out on pain pills that he has to practically raise his little brother and sister." 

"Ian's got a normal family," Kenny murmured, the argument sounding weak even to his own ears. 

Clark nodded in agreement. "You're right. Mom, Dad, three kids, nice house in the suburbs." 

"Of course," Lex drawled, "the facts that they fight all the time over his mistress, and that she's filing for divorce, and planning on shocking him with it at their next dinner party, well, we'll just ignore that." 

"How the fuck do you know that?" Kenny asked, incredulous. 

"I've been the president of the Parents' Association for ten years, Kenny." Lex shrugged dismissively. "These people think of me as their father confessor sometimes." He wrapped his arm loosely around his son's shoulders, pleased when Kenny instinctively curled into his side. 

Clark moved to sit by Kenny's other side, and brushed a gentle kiss on their son's forehead. "I think you see our point. No one's family, even the more traditional ones, fit your definition of 'normal'." 

"Look at me," Lex prodded, waiting until Kenny's watery eyes met his to continue. "I grew up in one of those traditional families. On the surface, I had a stern, but supportive father who worked hard so that his wife could stay home and tend to her children. I had a mother who loved me unconditionally. You've met my father, so I don't think I need to even begin to tell you what it was like being raised as Lionel Luthor's son." 

Kenny snorted. "No, I think I can guess." 

"Maybe I ought to tell you a bit more about your grandmother though," Lex said softly. Even after all these years, he still had trouble talking about his mother objectively. "She was a good woman, but she was sick, both physically and mentally. So ill that she thought the better solution to allowing my father to treat another child like he had treated me was to smother her younger son." 

"That's how Julian died?" Kenny asked, looking up at Lex and Clark questioningly. "But I thought..." 

Lex shrugged, grateful for Clark's supporting hand on his back. "It was ruled a crib death, and Dad has never seen fit to have it labeled as anything but. Back after I had my own bout with insanity, again thanks to your dear old Grandpapa, I was trying to recover my memories; that's when my remembrances about that time resurfaced. Lionel had found me with Julian just after Mom had smothered him, he assumed I'd done it, and I let him." 

"You took the blame for killing your own brother? And your mother LET you do it?" Kenny shrieked. 

"Yes." 

"Sick or not, how could she do that? That's just fucked up. How the hell did you become such a good father with those kinds of examples?" 

Lex smiled brightly at his son's unintended compliment, and beamed proudly at Clark. "Lots and lots of help." 

"Look, son, you're right, this isn't the most traditional of families, we know that, but you have it pretty good, whether your realize it or not. You've got two parents who love you, as well as each other, very much," Clark promised. "We've worked hard to center our lives around our family. We've made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I think we've done a pretty good job." 

"I think the fact that you have two dads isn't exactly the issue though. It's hard to be 'normal' when your Papa gave birth to you, and your Dad is an alien, isn't it?" Lex asked, waiting for Kenny's expected nod of agreement to continue. "And I also know that lying to your friends about your true heritage has got to be tough as well. Try to look at it from this perspective, though. When your Dad was growing up, he had no one to confide in about his differences, and you've got tons of people both in and out of your family that you can talk to. Even though they're a few years older than you, your brother and sister are always available for you, and so are Dad and I. Drugs are not the answer. I know this from personal experience. So does your Dad. Although I'll admit that he only intentionally got high once. I, on the other hand, pretty much had it down to a science," Lex admitted ruefully. 

"It was the first time, I promise, and if I had really wanted to get high I would have gone for the good stuff, like Dad did. I know where Grandpapa Lionel hides the red-K," he admitted smugly before sighing, once again slumping into Lex's side. "I think part of me wanted you to find out. I wouldn't have invited them back here to smoke the weed if I didn't. I just sort of expected Dad to find me though. I had no clue you were headed back from Japan tonight." 

"Why did you want me to find you?" Clark asked, pretty sure of the answer already, but wanting to know for certain. 

"Because you'd just ground me instead of putting me through this lecture," Kenny admitted sheepishly. "And because I know deep down that those guys are no good." 

Ignoring Lex's smug smile at the insightful statement, Clark instead focused on Kenny's second admission. "Why did you start hanging out with those losers anyway?" 

"I was bored. I've already read through to the end of my books for high school, so I started on Conner and Kendall's old college textbooks. I had to stop when I got to their grad books though; I'm totally not a science geek like them." 

Lex and Clark shared a look over Kenny's head. Lex glanced down pointedly at Kenny, and Clark nodded in agreement to the unspoken question. Lex sighed dramatically. "I think maybe it's time to get you enrolled in some university courses." 

Kenny stood up and whirled around, facing his fathers. "You always said that we could never skip grades until we got in college," he stated, a hopeful light shining in his eyes. 

"And I'm sticking with that. You'll still attend St. Michael's Academy, and you'll graduate with your class as scheduled, but a couple evenings a week it won't hurt for you to get done with some of the prerequisite courses at Met U." 

Kenny's face had started falling as Lex spoke, but once he heard Lex mention Metropolis University, his eyes lit up again. He quickly looked to Clark for confirmation, and was met with a blinding smile. "We've been thinking about it for a while already. We're not oblivious to how bored you've been, you know. I'm guessing that you'll test out of most of the basics, then maybe we can find a subject that will hold your interest for more than two minutes." 

"You guys rock!" Kenny exclaimed, moving forward to embrace his fathers until Lex's raised hand held him back. 

"You might not think so after you hear the rest. You'll be spending the rest of your evenings grounded for the next three months for this stunt." 

Kenny groaned. "I knew this was too good to be true." 

"Your weekends are going to be spent either here or volunteering at the teen drug hotline, and three afternoons a week, you'll be spending with me," Lex stated. 

"Huh?" 

"You're starting out being Brenda's assistant." 

"Your secretary?" Kenny questioned, Lex's intention still not quite sinking in. 

"Yep. I'm expecting you to learn Luthor-Kent Industries from the ground up. You didn't really think you'd just hop right out of grad school and into my job, did you?" 

"You mean..." 

"Kenny, who else is going to take over from me?" Lex asked honestly. "I had the impression that you've always wanted the job, was I wrong? Because if this isn't something you think you'll want, I'll eventually sell the company to either the stockholders or to Bruce. I have no desire to mold you into someone you don't want to be." 

"No, I want it," Kenny answered quickly, his gaze going unfocused as his future plans began snapping into place. "I mean, I think I'd like to get my law degree first, but that shouldn't take long if I start getting college classes out of the way now." 

"I don't know, Kenny." Clark sighed, not completely able to stifle his grin. "I mean in most normal families the kids don't have their sights on a CEO position by the time they're fifteen." 

"Fuck normal. I like my life the way..." Kenny's eyes widened with the realization of what he had just said. "You guys set me up!" 

Lex scowled at their son affectionately. "Just when I think you're acting like a Luthor, you come up with that completely innocent Kent look. Of course, we set you up." Smiling genuinely at the young man, Lex couldn't help but reach up and stroke his son's cheek like he used to do when Kenny was a baby. "Kenny, we won't ever be normal, but is that really such a bad thing?" 

"No, I guess it isn't," Kenny answered honestly. 

"The trick is finding what works for you, what you define as normal, and moving on from there." Clark shrugged, bumping his shoulder gently against Lex's. "If your papa and I can do it, anybody can. And trust me, in ten years, most of those losers will still be drugging it up, and working in dead end jobs. You, however, will be taking the fast track to becoming the CEO of a multi-national corporation, if you're not doing the job already." 

"Thanks, guys. Thanks for letting me yell, and for understanding." He leaned down and hugged his fathers quickly before bouncing off toward the door. 

"You're welcome," Lex called out after him amusedly. "And where exactly are you going?" 

Kenny grinned, and shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "I've got to call the guys, tell them what pricks my fathers are, and that I'm forbidden to see them again. That should be enough to get away from them for good, but still save face." 

Lex snorted and rolled his eyes. "You know what, Kenny? I take it all back. This family IS abnormal, starting with its youngest member." 

Kenny arched his eyebrow. "Hey, according to my fathers, abnormal ain't so bad." 

"Just you remember that, kiddo," Clark admonished gently. "And it's 'isn't so bad'. I don't think you'll impress your professors if you use words like 'ain't'." 

"I'll remember," Kenny promised, grinning unrepentantly as he bounded out into the hallway, leaving the door ajar behind him. 

Clark immediately turned to Lex and kissed his husband hungrily. "You're amazing, you know that." 

"So are you," Lex agreed with a grin. "We've perfected the good cop, bad cop routine over the years, haven't we?" 

Clark smiled smugly in answer, nuzzling his nose against Lex's. "I'm glad you called me before you confronted him. You shocked the hell out of more than just Kenny by coming home early though." He kissed Lex's lips softly, then groaned as the grandfather clock chimed in the hallway. "I'd better get back to the _Planet_. I told Lois I was just going out for coffee. I'm sure glad you're home. I've missed you." 

"Me too, Clark." Lex peered up from under his eyelashes, a smoldering look in his eyes. "Think you can get off early and we can have 'date night' tonight?" he purred seductively. 

"I'll drop off her latte, and tell her I'm sick," Clark answered quickly. "I can be back in twenty minutes, tops." 

"Sounds good. I love you." 

"I love you too, Lex." 

Their lips were about to meet in the kind of kiss that would have likely resulted in Lois never receiving her afternoon jolt of caffeine, when suddenly a voice called out loudly from the other room. 

"Um, HELLO, kid here who is still having trouble controlling his superhearing! Definitely adding to the abnormal factor by having to listen to your parents make out." 

"Consider it part of your punishment," Lex shouted. 

"You guys suck," Kenny protested with a chuckle. 

Clark just grinned. Waggling his eyebrows suggestively at Lex, and glancing pointedly at Lex's crotch, he mouthed the words 'I will later' before he disappeared in a blur of speed. 

"I'm serious, Papa. Please let me skip out on my grounding tonight," Kenny called out pleadingly. "I promise I'll hang with Kendall and Conner. It's just... listening to you guys through date night would be just cruel and unusual punishment." 

"Fine, just for tonight, but make sure you don't leave the Americas. You're still crap at flying." Lex snickered quietly as he stood, ignoring Kenny's whoop of delight and heading for their bedroom to change into more casual clothes. Yep, his family was far from normal, and it was just the way he liked it. 


End file.
